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Ki Castle
Demon Castle) |alias= Demon Castle |located in= Mugen Empire |controlled by= Knight Mare |population=11}} Ki Castle ( Demon Castle), is the great guildhall of the legendary dark guild Knight Mare. Located on the hidden continent of Nakurowa ( Dreamland), it is the capital of the Mugen Empire ( Kingdom of Dreams), and the guild's primary headquarters. History Founding When the settlers first came to the Nakurowa Continent, they struggled to find an area of land suitable for a colony. They trekked through forests for weeks, searching for a place not overrun by trees. Finally, they came across a valley on the western side of the island. This valley was a massive clearing miles wide and perfectly round. The area provided tons of room for farm land, and the soil was rich in nutrients, so a settlement was quickly built. No one questioned the convenience of this valley, or wondered why it was this seemed to be the only place on they could find. Then, after a year, signs of something sinister began to arise. It started with night mares, first with the children reporting their unsettling dreams to the adults, then the seniors, until suddenly everyone was having the same nightmare. In their dreams, the town would collectively share a vision. A skeletal door, surrounded by darkness, calling to them, and beckoning them to open it. Each dreamer held a key, and when they attempted to unlock the door, their souls would be ripped from their bodies and sucked through the keyhole and they’d awaken. Though no source to these dreams could be found, and so the settlers were forced to either tolerate the dream, or leave. These dreams persisted for another year, worsening each night. Then, people started acting strangely during the day. Some would just stop what they were doing and wonder into the woods, never to be seen again. Others would grow violent, hurting their loved ones, and then snapping out of it mid action to their horror. The strangest occurrence however, was the digging. Villagers would wake from their horrid dreams and immediately lunge at the ground, rapidly kicking up dirt and trying to tunnel into the earth. Once they started digging, they couldn’t stop. They would dig until their shovels broke, and then until their hands bled, until the bones of their fingers became exposed. Others would try and pull them away, but their strengthened in their madness. It took multiple people to a single soul from the dirt, and they’d after turn violent and mad until they could return to their digging. Eventually the diggers would pass out, and when they woke, they’d have no recollection of the previous days events. More and more settlers took ships back to Ishgar, and less and less ships came in. This was the very same superstition the original founders tried to avoid when they altered the map. Worried that paranoia and religious nonsense would deter anyone from settling on dreamland, the Town Council decided to take action. They declared the cursed clearing the capital of a new nation, and chose to suppress superstition by building a castle on the land. The hope was that by building a great structure of perseverance, they would keep focus on the structures construction rather than the odd occurrences of the land. This proved to work, as soon an entire town was built around this castle, named Mugen. Little did they know at the time, that this action would be the cause of their future empire’s destruction. Construction Before the genocide commited by Knight Mare, the castle was known as Mugen Castle. The citizens of Mugen, with no wars, politics, or guilds to distract them, had an overabundance of knowledge and resources. Valuing knowledge and nobility above all else, they decided to craft Mugen Castle as a monument to their empire. While at first it was simply a well built structure, over the course of generations Ki Castle would expand to the size of an entire kingdom. As new discoveries were made, and new techniques were invented, every scholar and noble would contribute to the castle in some way, many making it their life's work. It became tradition in Mugen culture to add their legacy to the castle, though expansions and developments.From the very beginning construction was ever present on the building, with expansion continuing even today under the dark influence of the guild. Its scope is so large that despite being only a single building, it was designated as the capital of the empire before their destruction. With the empire’s contributions, Ki castle became the epicenter of knowledge, a treasure trove of magic artifacts so impressive that even the nihilistic Knight Mare couldn’t bring themselves to destroy it. Exterior Design Today Ki castle is the largest man made structure in the world. A nightmarish sight, it takes on the appearance of a gothic citadel towering high into the eternal night Sky of Mugen. This Bback cathedral’s size above ground is equivalent to that of a mountain, and ten times as large bellow in it’s tombs and catacombs. An entire country can be housed within Ki Castle, while whole armies can become lost within its walls. No matter where one is on the continent of Nakurowa, Ki castle looms ominously in the distance. Many travelers come to the island believing the castle is within reach, a simple day journey if that. However they often find themselves travelling for weeks on end without Ki Castle ever drawing closer. This contributes towards the haunting image of the country, as the Castle always seems to loom close by, no matter how far one runs from it. Thirteenth Grave The Thirteenth Grave (１３人目の埋葬者, Jūsan-ninme no Maisōsha) is a mile wide mass grave that surrounds Ki castle, named for the unlucky fate of those who pass through it. Exposed to the atmosphere of death that radiates from Ki castle, the Thirteenth Grave has no life at all. No plants grow on the dried and cracked soil and the only trees around have been dead for many years. The grave is instead a forest of headstones so dense that they channel visitors onto a single dirt path. This path is a mile long, and is the only road to Ki Castle, forcing would be travelers to gaze upon death and realize they approach their own. Many traps line the way to Ki Castle. Thousands of hexes, curses, and magical seals conceal themselves within the Thirteenth Grave. It is nearly impossible to navigate through the massive cemetery without falling prey to its proverbial minefield of hexes. These magical traps seem to spring by various causes. Some are triggered by stepping within the concealed magic seals, while others are seem to go off by simply being within their presence. Trees spring to life, their branches jutting out and impaling visitors. Chains sprout from the earth and writhe through the air, their hooked ends digging into any trespassers and binding them. Some trespassers have walked with a party, only to turn and find that the earth had opened and swallowed their comrades in a premature grave. The sheer volume and unpredictability of these curses make it impossible to prepare against them, as there is no indication of where or what the next trap will be. The sense of dread and death isn’t solely caused by the atmosphere and traps, as with all things pertaining to the dark guild, dark magic is involved. When Knight Mare raided the castle, an entire kingdom's population lived within it. The dark guild cleared the castle’s endless halls of all life, a minor feat compared to the genocide of an empire. Wishing to make Ki Castle their new base of operations, Knight Mare was forced to clean up after themselves. They took the dead inhabitants, over a million in a number, and threw them from the castle walls to the lifeless dirt below. Once Knight Mare dug in their roots and established themselves as lords of the castle, they began to experiment with the bodies below. Using a combination of the demonic curse Necromancer, and the black magic Seith, Knight Mare was successful in creating a permanently resurrected corpse. Slowly, Knight Mare began converting all the castle’s corpses from tragic victims to horrid undead servants. Their Guild Master, a man strict on the customs of nobility, believed that a noble should always bury his servants, and so constructed a mass graveyard. The thirteenth grave was built, housing the graves of one million six hundred thousand undead servants. It is the only grave in the entirety of the Mugen empire, and serves as monument and reminder for the horrid abilities of Knight Mare. The million bodies housed within are the true threat of the thirteenth grave. These corpses lay dormant in their graves until someone trespasses upon the land. As trespassers traverse through the cemetery, these corpses will slowly start to rise from their slumber. At first, it is simply one or two wandering souls that crawl from the earth when their graves are disturbed. Not much in terms of magic prowess or physical ability, these corpses are easy enough to deal with. Many a trespasser have laughed at the uselessness of this defense, believing the cemetery an easy thing to traverse if they only need to deal with the occasional zombie. This is the fate that entices them to journey deeper, closer to their demise. The further into the cemetery they travel, the more frequently a zombie crawls from its grave. As the trespassers use their magic to wipe out the simple foes, they unknowingly sign away their life. These zombies feed on flesh as well as magic. The more a trespasser uses their magic, the more undead they attract. When the use of a magic spell is complete, and the magic energy radiates through the cemetery, the zombies start to come in hordes. Though so still weak, these zombies quickly overwhelm their opponents through sheer numbers. Many mages lay confident in their wide ranged abilities, only to grow more and more terrified and desperate as they realize the horde of undead isn’t slowing down or dwindling. Sheer numbers isn’t the only threat these undead servants possess. Even if a trespasser could outlast and cut through the entirety of the droves of undead, it wouldn’t be enough. These zombies possess a healing factor as morbid as their own existence. The undead are able to literally piece themselves back together. Arms, limbs, heads, tongues, all crawl across the battlefield to reunite with one another. What’s more, the zombies, sharing their grave, do not discriminate between what parts are theirs. Many simply piece themselves together with a compilation of other undeads parts. This causes the Zombie horde to replenish even as they are cut down, allowing the freshly risen zombies to simply add on to their numbers rather than replace them.Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of them all, is the zombies ability to feed on magic. Much like their thirst for flesh, these undead servants also feed on magical energy. As a Mage uses their spells to fend off against them, the zombies devour the magical energy comprising most the spell. When the bite into the juicy flesh of a living creature, the suck all the magical energy from that creatures reserves, effectively killing them from magic depletion. What’s dangerous about this, is that the magical energy replenishes the zombies. The more Magic they consume, the stronger they become. Their flesh can stop decomposing, and even rejuvenate, their mind can become replenished and refined, and with enough magical energy consumed, some can even develop the magical abilities they had in life. This means that the longer the fight goes on in the Thirteenth grave, the more Zombies attack, the more the heal, and the stronger they get. A defense like this is an after thought for Knight Mare, meant to be more of a quaint rendition of a castle moat than any reliable obstacle. Yet still, not many mages in the world can overcome this barrier, and many who try are found to have joined the undead ranks themselves. Twisted Guard The Twisted Guard| ( Magatta Youjinbou ) are the watchmen of the Thirteenth Grave and the guardians of Ki Castle's front entrance. Serving as doormen to Ki Castle, the Twisted Guard is composed of the fifteen strongest zombies of the Thirteenth Grave. Each of its member started as a mindless drone in the undead horde. As trespassers entered into the Thirteenth Grave zombies fed on their magic, replenishing their flesh and minds. Some of these zombies began to regain sentience and thought. Though basic at first, this thought gave them an edge over the other zombies, and soon they were each able to organize their mindless undead brothers. No longer needing to compete with their brothers to feed, they manipulated the individual clans of zombies to save of parts of magical trespassers for their own consumption. Their bodies, though still dead, became stronger, until they were able to unlock the latent magic abilities they had in life. Through trespassers and cannibalism, these magic zombies consumed more to develop their abilities. They soon became comparable to mages. Previously it took hundreds of undead to overwhelm just one moderately skilled mage. Those zombies who had scrounged enough to gather magic and form basic thoughts, realized that if they could combine their efforts, they could reduce this number to a simple fifteen zombies for every one mage. These fifteen zombies were now able to share among themselves enough flesh and magic to feed a hundred of their kin. Where once they picked at the scraps of magic energy, now they feasted on its most potent sources. Their magic developed further, and their minds with it, until they equaled and surpassed the abilities they had in life. As their brains developed so did their wisdom. Realizing that the basis of their power was unity, the magical undead ceased their cannibalism and inter-clan zombie wars. Uniting their individual armies of zombies, the fifteen magical undead formed an alliance 1,6000,000 strong. They were able to now be selective of who’s magical energy they consumed, having their zombie horde bring them only the strongest trespassers. With the whole of the Zombie forces unified under a single organization, they were finally ready to meet their makers. The fifteen Zombie Mages approached the front entrance, and knocked upon its black door. This was the first time the front door was ever knocked upon, since Knight Mare took over the castle. Every other mage and potential recruit had been consumed at the hands of the zombies, and the dark guild had become used to the silence. When the knock occurred, it echoed throughout the castle, peaking the curiosity of all within. The great door opened, and Knight Mare approached. The fifteen Zombie Mages prostrated themselves before the dark guild, and swore the loyalty and servitude of their an entire forces. Some members of Knight Mare wished to eradicate the entire army on the spot. The zombies were pests not to be given a second thought, and many members were insulted by the notion of being offered something that was already theirs. But the guild Master was felt different. The entire point of the corpse garden outside their castle, was to thin the out the number of recruits until one strong enough to get through the Thirteenth grave arrived. He had never expected that the first to achieve this task would be the undead themselves. As a reward for their progress and loyalty, and wishing to raise the difficulty of the apparently too easily achievable challenge, the Guild Master appointed the fifteen zombies as the door guards to castle Ki, and never thought of them again. Today the members of the Twisted Guard are more powerful than they’ve ever been. They are lords of the thirteenth grave, and its final obstacle, representing the last challenge of the first trial, getting to the castle. Each of their members are strong enough to qualify as S-class mages, and their strength is considered equal to that of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Interior Design Since its founding, Ki Castle has seen non stop expansion and construction. The interior of Ki Castle is a labyrinth of hallways and chambers. Being the size of a kingdom, it is too easy to get lost within the castle's black halls. Ki castle is over a hundred and sixty stories tall, making it the tallest structure in the world. In truth, the Ki Castle perceived from the ground up is only the tip of the iceberg. As the castle’s floors below ground are three times the size, scale, and amount, as above. Unfathomable in scope, Ki castle’s lowest floors dig deep into the earth, reaching the bedrock of the Nakurowa Continent. Its halls house innumerable treasures, traps, knowledge, and horrors. This prompts many foolish mages to seek the castle out, risking their lives in hopes of obtaining even a single piece of loot. Only the strongest mages are able to navigate through the continent, pass through the Thirteenth Grave unscathed, defeat the Twisted Guard, and enter the castle. Few realize that this is where the real challenge begins, as moving through the castle is nearly impossible. The castle feels almost alive, its halls and stairways are ever changing and growing. Trespassers could spend generations within its walls and never see the same hallway twice. Even the members of Knight Mare require the use of special ring items to navigate through their headquarters. Halls Hallways encompass the majority of Ki Castle. Made of black magic sealing stone, these expansive corridors extend for miles at some points, split up only be a few sparse rooms. A large portion of the castle’s halls seem abandoned and unkempt. While a purple miasmic mist crawls across the floors of these halls. Relentless in its flow, nothing seems capable of dispersing this endless mist. Within some points of the hallway, the mist is near non existent, while at others it flows so thickly that wanderers are unable to see the floor. A majority of the hall’s floors are covered in bones, the result of Knight Mare’s genocide of all living things within the castle. These bones are the corpses of victims left to rot, those souls whose bodies were not thrown from the castle en masse. These bones have been picked dry by the plethora of creatures and night mares that call the castle home. One such creature exists solely to patrol the halls of Ki castle. Known as Cerberus (ケルベロス, Keruberosu), this canine-like abomination is another of the necromantic seith experiments created by Knight Mare. An amalgamation of various magical creatures, Cerberus is classified as an undead chimera comparable in size to that of a small dragon. It exists as the castles guard dog, feeding on the bones that line the floors of its halls. Wondering these halls eternally, Cerberus waits to devour any intruder that trespasses within the castle. Its heightened sense are such that it can hear the footsteps of trespassers from any point in the castle, and can follow their scent for miles on end. The moment a trespasser uses any form of magical energy within the castle, Cerberus goes wild. Falling into a hunting frenzy, Cerbereus will chase down the trespasser and quickly slaughter them, its eternal undead hunger never satisfied. So long as a trespasser remains in any hallway of the castle, Cerberus will pursue them. However, there is a way to escape the draconic, demonic, undead chimera. Cerberus is trained to only patrol the halls. So long as an invader remains within a room or chamber of the castle, the dog will not pursue them. Those bearing the guild mark of Knight Mare need not worry of such a creature, being its masters. Cerbereus becomes docile and even friendly around members of Knight Mare, embracing its canine appearance. Genocidal Organ The Genocidal Organ (虐殺器官 Gyakusatsu Kikan) is a massive room at the top of Ki Castle, containing only a single golden organ within. Known as the Genocidal Organ, this instruments pipes are woven into the walls of the entire castle. Considered by many to be the literal heart of the castle, the Genocidal Organ has a unique connection to Knight Mare’s Guild master. It holds a special type of curse magic known as the Heart of Terror, a version of Grimoire Heart’s own Devil Heart, unique to Knight Mare. When the Guild Master of Knight Mare plays this instrument, its ominous tones slither throughout the entire castle. The castle becomes a part of the Genocidal Organ, its walls and corridors becoming extensions of the echoing golden pipes. The sound of the organ thunders throughout the sky of the entire Nakurowa Continent., causing massive storms of black clouds to congregate and lightning to crack and whip across the blackened sky. As the guild master’s symphony plays on, his curse magic pumps through the castle as its life blood, and magic of the Genocidal Organ takes effect. The entire continent shakes, and shifts, purple miasma flows from the castle and crawls its way across the entire continent, before it starts to flicker in and out of existence like an ethereal mist. Then, as the guild master plays his last note, it all fades back into silence, as stillness takes over the land. Though nothing has changed on the continent itself, what has changed is the location of the continent. As the Genocidal Organ’s magic allows the Guild Master of Knight Mare to relocated the Nakurowa Continent anywhere he desires, regardless of location or realm. This makes the Genocidal Organ one of the most important to the defense of Ki Castle, and to maintaining the secrecy of the Guild. Library Ki Castle houses perhaps the largest collection of knowledge on Earth Land, a feat reflected in the size of its library alone. Its bookshelves extend for thousand of feet, with its library being the size of an entire guild hall. Within these books lay the collective knowledge of an entire empire, spanning for generations. One could spend a hundred decades consuming the knowledge contained within its books, neglecting sustenance and sleep purely to read, and still not know all contained within. These books are organized with a magic compendium. At the base of the towering library is a stone globe, secretly a magical Lacrima. Simply being within this globes vicinity is enough for its magic to take effect. As one approaches the globe, the magic spell placed on the library will seek out the knowledge most desired by the visitor, and provide for them the books necessary to obtain it. These books are magically taken from their shelves, and floated over to the visitor. This makes the massive collection of knowledge less daunting to sort through, as any knowledge desired will simply be provided through the globe. However, there is a deeper, greater source of knowledge, contained within Ki Castle’s library. This is a collection of stone Poneglyphs, crafted in secret by the magic council of Mugen. These poneglyphs have, transcribed upon them in an ancient and magical language, the very history of magic itself. By placing these poneglyphs in the proper order, and then deciphering the magic code of the forgotten language, the reader is able to transcribe the origin of magic. After the extinction of the Mugen Empire, this forbidden knowledge is known by only one, the guild Master of Knight Mare, who still works to transcribe the stones in their entirety. Only the guild master knows of the existence of these stone poneglyphs, he bares the knowledge of their quantity, their forbidden magics, their forgotten language, and the transcription of their forgotten code. These are things he obtained through the usage of other dark and forbidden magics, in his pursuit to obtain the knowledge of a magic capable of wiping out all existence. To ensure their secrecy, a curse was placed upon the Stone Lacrima Globe, so that only the presence of Knight Mare’s guild mark may permit the globe to summon these poneglyphs. However, despite the secrecy surrounding it, the origin of magic is considered by Knight Mare to be a useless and insulting knowledge. The Librarian The Librarian (図書館員 Toshokan-in), is the caretaker of the expansive library within Ki Castle, having long since abandoned his name and identity when he became a servant of the guild. Though a mere servant to Knight Mare now, he was once hailed as a powerful Lich King, an almost unparalleled existence in terms of sorcery and necromancy. According to the Librarian, in terms of ability he regarded August, the strongest male wizard of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12, and hailed as the "Magic King" (魔導王 Madō Ō) as a mere child not worth mentioning. He has, by his own admission, existed for over many millennia, and as a result amassed much knowledge of man, science, nature and magic. He rarely strays from the confines of the library, where he dutifully assists any and all members who enter, aiding them in whatever it is they are in search of. He maintains the cleanliness of the library and is aware if even one book is slightly out of place. Despite this, if commanded by Baron or certain other members of whom he has grown to revere, he will take to the battlefield on behalf of his masters, summoning forth his legion of skeletons and lich to overwhelm and dispose of those foolish enough to make themselves an enemy of the guild. Its thought to be impossible to know the exact number of types of magic learned and mastered by the Librarian. His knowledge is to such an extent that he has rarely been surprised or baffled at nearly any magic used against him. Its been said that a single spell from him is enough to topple an entire guild. Treasury Ki Castle’s treasury contains within it the combined wealth of an entire empire. Gold coins and precious gems pile up to the size of mountains within. Legendary rare items are blindly discarded amongst the piles of treasure. Many travelers to Nakurowa come to obtain only the smallest fraction of wealth contained within the castle. Often succumbing to the many horrors provided by the dark guild, before they can even obtain a single item of loot. To Knight Mare, money is of no concern. This seemingly limitless wealth is a huge aspect of recruitment, with many desiring to join their ranks for financial gain alone. However, while Knight Mare sits upon mountains of treasure, they hoard it much like dragons. With no real need for monetary gain, Knight Mare allows their assets to simply sit untouched and gather dust. Believing the only real use for the wealth is to entice others or influence the politicians, councilmen, and royals of the world. This allows Knight Mare to ensure that world events continue in their own favor. Perhaps the real value of the treasury, is the numerous items of potent magical power. In their search for an item capable of eradicating existence, Knight Mare has collected thousands of items of extreme power. Some of these items are so heavily sought after that nations would go to war to obtain them. Others are so powerful that whoever wields them could potentially conquer the entire world. Yet none are strong enough to eradicate existence, and so all are discarded by Knight Mare and never given a second thought. This makes Knight Mare’s treasury a fantasy sought after by many Dark Guilds, beyond the wealth and valuables it contains. Many times, operatives of Knight Mare have gifted Dark Guilds these legendary items, so that they may wreak havoc in a way that favors Knight Mare’s agenda. Lazarus Chamber The Lazarus Chamber ( ラザロぼう, Razaro Bou), is a secret rejuvenation chamber hidden within Ki Castle. The Lazarus Chamber is host to hundreds of large incubation pods, each filled with a magical purple glowing liquid. These pods contain within them the incubated clones of the members of Knight Mare. These clones are completely mindless, existing only as uninhabited flesh, but are otherwise perfectly healthy. When each member of Knight Mare is branded by their guild mark, they become subject to the Lazarus Curse. This curse is only activated upon their death, wherein the guild member’s mind is transferred to one of the many host clones within the Lazarus Chamber’s pods. With their mind and magical abilities restored, the new body springs to life. With each resurrection the guild members of Knight Mare go through a sort of metamorphosis, increasing in power. With each subsequent death and revival, they increase in power, evolving a new level of power that may assist them against the same threat that killed them in the future. This however means that after a certain amount of resurrections, the new host body becomes unrecognizable from the original, and can even lead to monstrous mutations. Activation of the Lazarus Chamber requires some time. Upon being placed in a new body, the resurrected guild member must take some time to adjust. With a new body, comes re-acclimation. The revived member must use muscles which have never contradicted, breathe with lungs which have never tasted air, they must relearn how to walk, relearn how to speak, and slowly recover their memory. This means that a freshly revived member of Knight Mare is at the weakest they have ever been since childhood, nearly an infant, and just as suggestible. The frequency with which one revives is also important, as the less time there is between revivals, the greater the revivals toll on the mind becomes. The last person to be revived twice within a single day had their mind so corrupted that they continued on with the mental capacity of an infant, while another revived twice within two days, continued on with only their primal bestial instincts. Due to this, no member is permitted to die twice within one day. Doing so displays a great weakness, and results in excommunication from the guild, which is of course only capable through permanent death. However, the re-acclimation process appears to vary in time depending on the member revived and the emotional state they were in upon dying. With some of the strongest members, upon being enraged at their death, springing to life and re-acclimating within minutes. While other members, content with their death, have taken weeks to return to their previous form and state of mind. Some members view the Lazarus Chamber and its Curse as an eternal torment, knowing they are subjugated to the guild for eternity. While others view it as a blessing, a gift of eternal life for them to do as they please without consequence. Regardless, the overwhelming strength of Knight Mare’s members is such that the Lazarus chamber is rarely ever used, and so is not often a topic of discussion. Cold Chamber The Cold Chamber is a refrigerated silo located deep beneath Ki Castle. Within this tower of frost, lay the corpse of a demon. This demon is another pet project of Knight Mare’s. Its body is assembled of the strongest sections of the strongest demons that Knight Mare has faced over the years. Knight Mare has implanted the soul of the King of Demons within the frozen corpse, creating another creature of great power subservient to the will of their guild. The chamber is frozen at such extreme temperatures that no one may survive after an hour of exposure within. This extreme temperature helps to both preserve the decaying flesh of the demon’s corpse, and keep its fiery and infernal soul from igniting and melting the castle. Though incomplete, a curse is placed upon the demon corpse, so that if any trespasser of great power threatens Ki Castle, the Demon King will awake. This has given the massive preserved carcass the ironic name of “Guardian of Ki Castle”, fitting the guild halls moniker of Demon Castle. However, for all other times, the corpse remains dormant, its soul stuck in eternal hibernation. This makes the Demon King essentially useless, until someone strong enough may come to pose a threat to Ki Castle.